POLITICO Playbook: Battle rages on over Trump’s emergency declaration

"Important meetings and calls on China Trade Deal, and more, today with my staff," President Donald Trump tweeted on Sunday morning. "Big progress being made on soooo many different fronts!" | Andrew Harnik/AP Photo

DRIVING THE DAY

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK -- THE PRESIDENT’S WEEK AHEAD: MONDAY: Trump will give a speech to the Venezuelan American community in Miami. TUESDAY: The president is meeting with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.

WEDNESDAY: Trump will have lunch with Pompeo. He is meeting with and will participate in an expanded bilateral meeting with Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz. THURSDAY: Trump will receive an intel briefing. He will attend a reception for African American History Month.

THE LATEST ON THE WALL -- WAPO’S TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA, BOB COSTA and JOSH DAWSEY: “‘Finish that wall’: Trump seeks to turn his failure to build the wall into campaign rallying cry”: “President Trump and his political team plan to make his years-long quest for a border wall one of the driving themes of his reelection effort — attempting to turn his failure to build such a project into a combative sales pitch that pits him against the political establishment on immigration.Trump has declared a national emergency to secure the funds Congress has repeatedly denied him despite his own admission that the move is likely to get tied up in court.

“This move has galvanized many of his supporters even as others on the right remain dubious and disappointed.His campaign is fundraising off his showdown with congressional Democrats over the border — portraying the opposition party as more interested in political games than the public’s safety.’” WaPo

-- “With Trump’s Tough Deterrents, Many Asylum Seekers on the Border are Giving Up,” by NYT’s Jose A. Del Real, Caitlin Dickerson and Miriam Jordan in Tijuana, Mexico: “Pushed beyond their limits by prolonged waits in dangerous and squalid conditions in parts of Northern Mexico, thousands of caravan members who had been waiting to seek asylum in the United States appear to have given up, Mexican officials said, dealing President Trump an apparent win after a humbling week for his immigration agenda.

“About 6,000 asylum seekers who had traveled en masse, many of them in defiance of Mr. Trump’s demands that they turn around, arrived in Northern Mexico in late November as part of a caravan that originated in Honduras. Since then, more than 1,000 have accepted an offer to be returned home by the Mexican government, the officials said. Another 1,000 have decided to stay in Mexico, accepting work permits that were offered to them last fall, at the height of international consternation over how to deal with the growing presence of migrant caravans.” NYT

SUNDAY BEST -- CHRIS WALLACE interviewed WHITE HOUSE POLICY ADVISERSTEPHEN MILLER on FOX NEWS’S “FOX NEWS SUNDAY”: WALLACE: “I didn’t need to do this. How does that justify a national emergency?” MILLER: “Well as you know Chris, we already have 4,000 troops on the border in light of a national emergency, a decision that was made almost a year ago, as we see an increasing number of people crossing the border as well as increasing violence in Mexico. What the president was saying is that like past presidents, he could choose to ignore this crisis, choose to ignore this emergency as others have; that’s not what he’s going to do.” … Video of Wallace and Miller exchange on Trump using the National Emergencies Act for building a wall

-- CHUCK TODD spoke with SEN. RON JOHNSON (R-WIS.) on NBC’S “MEET THE PRESS”: TODD: “Do you share the concern that other conservatives have that, if this is allowed to become precedent, where a president, thwarted by a Congress that he disagreed with, can end-run Congress this way and declare a national emergency to take appropriated money and spend it anywhere, climate change, guns, you name it?”

JOHNSON: “Absolutely, I share those concerns, which is why we're going to take a very careful look at what he's doing here in this instance. But again, I have to stress, this president has been thwarted for keep — you know, in his attempt to keep this nation safe and secure, to secure, to secure our borders.”

-- THE DEMOCRATIC PUSHBACK: MARTHA RADDATZ spoke with CALIFORNIA ATTORNEY GENERAL XAVIER BECERRA on ABC’S “THIS WEEK”: RADDATZ: “Mr. Attorney General, let me ask you, can you say definitely that California will be filing a lawsuit, and when that will happen?” BECERRA: “Martha, definitely and imminently.” RADDATZ: “And – and imminently Monday? Nothing will stop you?” BECERRA: “No reason. We are prepared, we knew something like this might happen. And with our sister state partners, we are ready to go.”

-- DANA BASH spoke with SEN. SHERROD BROWN (D-OHIO) on CNN’S “STATE OF THE UNION”: BASH: “You said it seems like [Trump’s] trying to ignore the Constitution. But you defended President Obama for taking executive actions on immigration when Congress wouldn't act. So, why is it OK for President Obama and not President Trump?

BROWN: “Well, this is the first kind of emergency we have seen like this that a president has done this. He couldn't get the Mexicans to build the wall. He couldn't get Congress to vote the money in. This is the -- in fact, the first emergency declaration like this in -- with that kind of construct, where he got turned down by Congress and then went ahead and did it.”

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Good Sunday morning. SPOTTED dining at a Mar-a-Lago last night: President Trump and the First Lady; Bill Belichick; Sarah Huckabee Sanders and her husband Bryan; Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Hilary Ross; U.S. ambassador to South Africa nominee Lana Marks; Lois Pope; Nick Owens; Anthony Pratt; and Keith Schiller.

WHAT’S ON PRESIDENT TRUMP’S MIND THIS A.M.: @realDonaldTrump at 7 a.m.: “Important meetings and calls on China Trade Deal, and more, today with my staff. Big progress being made on soooo many different fronts! Our Country has such fantastic potential for future growth and greatness on an even higher level!”

… at 7:24 a.m.: “Democrats in the Senate are still slow walking hundreds of highly qualified people wanting to come into government. Never been such an abuse in our country’s history. Mitch should not let Senate go home until all are approved. We need our Ambassadors and all others NOW!”

… at 7:41 a.m.: “52% Approval Rating, 93% in Republican Party ( a record )! Pretty amazing considering that 93% (also) of my press is REALLY BAD. The ‘people’ are SMART!”

… at 7:52 a.m.: “Nothing funny about tired Saturday Night Live on Fake News NBC! Question is, how do the Networks get away with these total Republican hit jobs without retribution? Likewise for many other shows? Very unfair and should be looked into. This is the real Collusion!” … at 7:56 a.m.: “THE RIGGED AND CORRUPT MEDIA IS THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE!”

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MORE SUNDAY BEST -- MARGARET BRENNAN spoke with SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-S.C.) on CBS’ “FACE THE NATION”: BRENNAN: “Have you ever asked Rod Rosenstein if in fact that [25th Amendment] conversation happened?” GRAHAM: “While he's publicly denied it, but, the whole point of Congress existing is to provide oversight of the executive branch. So through good reporting by ‘60 Minutes,’ there’s an allegation by the acting FBI director at the time that the deputy attorney general was basically trying to do an administrative coup, take the president down to the twenty fifth amendment process. The deputy attorney general denies it.

“So I promise your viewers the following; that we will have a hearing about who's telling the truth, what actually happened.”

-- HOUSE INTEL CHAIRMAN ADAM SCHIFF (D-CALIF.) spoke with DANA BASH on CNN’S “STATE OF THE UNION: “Look, you can see evidence in plain sight on the issue of collusion, pretty compelling evidence. Now, there's a difference between seeing evidence of collusion and being able to prove a criminal conspiracy beyond a reasonable doubt.”

NAUERT DROPS OUT -- “Nauert Quits as UN Pick After Nanny Issue Said to Surface,” by Bloomberg’s Jennifer Jacobs, Nick Wadhams, and Margaret Talev: “State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert is withdrawing from consideration as President Donald Trump’s nominee to be ambassador to the United Nations, according to a statement. Nauert’s nomination began to falter after the White House was alerted to a problem in her background: She had in the past employed an immigrant nanny who was in the U.S. legally but wasn’t authorized to work, according to two people familiar with the matter.

“The State Department statement with remarks from Nauert on Saturday night didn’t acknowledge the issue with her nanny or any other specific problem with her nomination. Nauert’s nanny issue became politically untenable -- and would have likely come out in her confirmation hearing -- given that halting illegal migration was a centerpiece of Trump’s campaign and has animated his fight to build a wall on the border with Mexico.” Bloomberg

-- QUINT FORGEY and NAHAL TOOSI: “A former White House official said the withdrawal is another example of the White House announcing nominees before fully completing the vetting process. ... It was not immediately clear whether Nauert would remain in her role at the State Department, but a statement by Pompeo suggested she would not.

“Pompeo said Nauert ‘performed her duties as a senior member of my team with unequaled excellence,’ adding that he had ‘great respect’ for her decision to drop out of the running for the diplomatic post. ‘I wish Heather nothing but the best in all of her future endeavors and know that she will continue to be a great representative of this nation in whatever role she finds herself.’” POLITICO

NEXT UP -- NYT’S ANNIE KARNI and MAGGIE HABERMAN: “One person familiar with the current discussions said that Kelly Knight Craft, the ambassador to Canada, was being discussed as a possibility for the role. Others said that another name being floated was Richard Grenell, the ambassador to Germany who recently spent time with a United States delegation that included Ivanka Trump.” NYT

ON THE WORLD STAGE -- POLITICO EUROPE’S MATTHEW KARNITSCHNIG and DAVID M. HERSZENHORN in Munich: “Munich Insecurity Conference: Transatlantic differences laid bare at annual defense powwow”: “Be worried. Very worried. The Munich Security Conference — a forum conceived during the Cold War to discuss security threats and challenges — has never been an event for the faint of heart. Even so, the mood at this year’s gathering, the 55th, would best be described as funereal.

“Long a showcase for the solidity of the postwar Western alliance and America’s enduring commitment to European security, this year’s conference has looked more like a transatlantic reality show. ‘People are not talking to each other, nor at each other, they are talking through each other,’ said Ana Palacio, a former Spanish foreign minister who has been attending the conference for more than 20 years.

“It’s no secret Europeans and Americans (i.e. the Trump administration) have been at odds over a laundry list of issues including the Iranian nuclear deal, climate policy, trade and commitment to NATO. Yet the interaction between the two sides in Munich – which bordered on the caustic, both in public and behind the scenes – left some participants warning that the estrangement threatens to hobble the transatlantic security alliance at a time of growing instability.” POLITICO EU

-- “Among European Allies, Americans Offer Competing Visions,” by NYT’s Katie Rogers and David E. Sanger in Munich: “Vice President Mike Pence made his case for ‘America First’ in the deeply hostile territory of an annual conference of America’s closest European allies on Saturday. ... Mr. Pence received a predictably tepid response, mainly from a crowd of visiting Americans. ...

“Hours later, Mr. Pence’s predecessor, Joseph R. Biden, received a brief standing ovation after delivering an impassioned rebuttal to the Trump administration’s treatment of allies, in what appeared to be the foreign policy plank of a campaign for president — if he decides to run. ‘I promise you, I promise you,’ Mr. Biden said. ‘This too shall pass. We will be back. We will be back.’ He never defined ‘we.’” NYT

-- HOT VIDEO -- @HowardMortman: “‘The room was silent for a very long moment’ -- Pool report on VP Pence opening remarks at John McCain Award Ceremony at Munich Security Conference. Here’s video after Pence says: ‘I bring greetings from the 45th president of the United States of America, President Donald Trump’” --36 second video

2020 WATCH – “Bernie Sanders records video announcing 2020 campaign,” by Holly Otterbein: “Bernie Sanders, inching closer to a second bid for the White House, has recorded a campaign video in which he says he is running for president in 2020, according to two people familiar with the spot. It’s the latest sign the independent senator, the runner-up in the 2016 contest for the Democratic nomination, is nearing a presidential announcement. ... It is unclear when, or even whether, the Sanders video will be released.” POLITICO

-- CHUCK TODD spoke with NYC MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO on NBC’S “MEET THE PRESS”: TODD: “Do you plan to take this message nationally and run for president?” DE BLASIO: “I have not ruled it out but I'm going to take this message nationally any way you slice it because this is a moment, Chuck, it's an urgent moment.”

PLAYBOOK READS

ELIANA JOHNSON -- “Trump bets on North Korea to break his losing streak”: “Stung by domestic defeat after a losing battle with Democrats in Washington, D.C., this winter, President Donald Trump hopes his negotiating skills can achieve better results some 8,000 miles away when he meets with North Korea’s leader in Vietnam later this month. Trump will travel for his second session with the North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un to discuss whether the strongman might relinquish his nuclear weapons in return for an end to economic isolation.

“Skeptics call it a fool’s errand. But even some harsh critics of Trump’s foreign policy hold open the possibility that the president might find it easier to deal with the diminutive Asian tyrant than with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. At a minimum, the Hanoi summit offers Trump a chance to shift a losing political narrative which dates back to the drubbing his party took in November’s midterm elections.” POLITICO

-- NYT’S PETER BAKER: “The War That Wasn’t: Trump Claims Obama Was Ready to Strike North Korea”: “America was on the brink of war. As President Barack Obama prepared to leave office, he was contemplating yet another conflict in Asia, where the United States had already fought twice since the 1950s without winning. This time, the enemy had nuclear weapons. The potential for devastation was enormous. Wait a minute — don’t remember Mr. Obama’s near-war with North Korea? Neither do the people who were working for Mr. Obama at the time. But President Trump has been telling audiences lately that his predecessor was on the precipice of an all-out confrontation with the nuclear-armed maverick state.

“The way Mr. Trump tells the story, the jets were practically scrambling in the hangars. ‘I believe he would have gone to war with North Korea,’ Mr. Trump said in the White House Rose Garden on Friday. ‘I think he was ready to go to war. In fact, he told me he was so close to starting a big war with North Korea.’” NYT

THE LATEST ON NORTHAM -- “Richmond’s donor class and the VMI brotherhood stand behind embattled Virginia governor,” by WaPo’s Gregory S. Schneider in Richmond: “On the Friday night that Gov. Ralph Northam’s political career blew up, two members of Richmond’s business elite got into a car and headed to the Executive Mansion.

“Gil Minor, a local corporate titan and major donor to both political parties, and Tom Slater, a prominent lawyer, wanted to see the governor face-to-face as they absorbed the shocking news that a racist photo had been unearthed from his 1984 medical school yearbook page.They could not get to Northam (D) that night but sat in his office the following Monday to deliver a message: Hang in there.

“Minor and Slater are part of a donor class in Richmond that has rallied behind the embattled governor. But perhaps more significant, they are part of a Virginia Military Institute brotherhood, an elite alumni corps that includes several of the state’s power brokers. They did not want Northam, the first VMI graduate to become governor, to go down in disgrace. That support is a major reason that Northam has clung to office when most of the political world has called for his head, leaving Richmond locked in a limbo of dysfunction that shows no sign of changing soon.” WaPo

FOR YOUR RADAR -- “U.S. Military Starts Flying Aid for Venezuela to Colombia,” by NYT’s Ernesto Londoño: “The United States military began flying humanitarian aid to a Colombian city close to the Venezuelan border on Saturday in an effort to turbocharge a relief plan that has become a cornerstone of the quest to oust President Nicolás Maduro.

“Military personnel used C-17 cargo planes to transport thousands of nutritional supplements and hygiene kits from a base near Miami to Cúcuta, the main staging ground for hundreds of millions of dollars in humanitarian aid that Venezuelan opposition leaders and their international backers hope to get across the border.” NYT

-- “Syrian military linked to more than 300 chemical attacks, report says,” by WaPo’s Louisa Loveluck: “The Syrian government and affiliated forces have launched more than 300 attacks using chemical weapons during the country’s nearly eight-year conflict, a report said Sunday. The findings by the Berlin-based Global Public Policy Institute offer the most comprehensive record to date of presumed chemicals weapons use in Syria, where the long war appears to be winding down. The tally by the policy group also could be cited as part of any possible international war crimes cases against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.” WaPo

-- “Ryan Adams Dangled Success. Women Say They Paid a Price,” by NYT’s Joe Coscarelli and Melena Ryzik: “Several women say Adams offered to jumpstart their music careers, then pursued them sexually and in some cases retaliated when they spurned him. He denies the claims.” NYT

-- “Why Does It Feel Like Everyone Has More Money Than You?” by Jen Doll in Harper’s Bazaar: “Financial help from parents comes in many forms, and it’s the basis of so many success stories. So why do millennials act like it doesn’t exist? Jen Doll examines the myth—and tyranny—of the ‘self-made’ success story.” Harper’s Bazaar (h/t Longreads.com)

-- “The Oil-Pumping Adventures of Rachael Van Horn,” by The New Yorker’s By Ian Frazier: “After witnessing a bombing in Iraq, the Army Reserves veteran and newspaper columnist decided to work through her P.T.S.D. in the fields of the Panhandle.” The New Yorker

-- “The Ethical Dilemma Facing Silicon Valley’s Next Generation,” by Victor Luckerson in The Ringer: “Stanford has established itself as the epicenter of computer science, and a farm system for the tech giants. Following major scandals at Facebook, Google, and others, how is the university coming to grips with a world in which many of its students’ dream jobs are now vilified?” The Ringer (h/t Longreads.com)

-- “Cory Booker on Animal Rights, Veganism, and How to Change the World,” by Jasmin Singer in VegNews: “In this VegNews exclusive, Sen. Cory Booker—who just announced his 2020 presidential run—opens up about his hopes for legislative change when it comes to animal welfare, the one thing each of us can do in order to be part of a forward-thinking society, and just why he’s so passionate about what he eats.” VegNews

-- “I Cut the ‘Big Five’ Tech Giants From My Life. It Was Hell,” by Gizmodo’s Kashmir Hill: “Hill spent six weeks blocking Amazon, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Apple from getting her money, data, and attention, using a custom-built VPN. Here’s what happened.” Gizmodo (h/t Longform.org)

-- “Things I Never Knew About Skiing Until I Was a Private Instructor in Aspen,” by Brandon Presser in Bloomberg Businessweek: “Slopeside shenanigans, gallons of sprayed Champagne, celebrities behaving badly, and… ski gangs? It’s all in a day’s work at Aspen.” Bloomberg Businessweek

-- “The Machine Stops,” by Oliver Sacks in The New Yorker: “The neurologist on steam engines, smartphones, and fearing the future.” The New Yorker

-- “‘Down The Rabbit Hole I Go’: How A Young Woman Followed Two Hackers' Lies To Her Death,” by BuzzFeed’s Joseph Bernstein and Davey Alba: “Tomi Masters was a 23-year-old from Indiana who moved to California with dreams of making it big in the cannabis business. Then she met a hacker who introduced her to a dark new world of digital manipulation, suspicion, paranoia, and fear — one that swallowed her alive and left her floating in a river in the Philippines.” BuzzFeed (h/t Longform.org)

PLAYBOOKERS

SPOTTED: Colombian President Iván Duque Márquez and Alan Fleischmann shopping yesterday afternoon at Politics and Prose. The president bought a number of non-fiction books: one on the future of Asia, one on the Kennedys, Aristotle, and a biography of Frederick Douglass, according to our tipster. ...

REMEMBERING PAT CADDELL – NYT’s Sam Roberts: “Patrick Caddell, the political pollster who helped send an obscure peanut farmer named Jimmy Carter to the White House, later became disillusioned with fellow Democrats and finally veered to advise supporters of Donald J. Trump, died on Saturday in Charleston, S.C. He was 68. ...

“In 2016, he became a frequent commentator on Fox News and advised Stephen K. Bannon, who became President Trump’s chief White House strategist, and Robert Mercer, a computer mogul and contributor to the Trump campaign.” NYT

-- REMEMBERING MICHAEL J. PITTS -- Friends from across the country, all members of “Pitts Nation,” gathered in Washington, D.C. this weekend to celebrate the life of Michael J. Pitts, a veteran Democratic logistics and transportation operative. Donna Brazile and Don Fowler, former DNC chair and Pitts’ mentor, read a proclamation at the DNC winter meeting Saturday in Pitts’ honor.

WEEKEND WEDDING – “Jamie Geller, Daniel Schwarz” – N.Y. Times: “The bride, 29, works in Washington as a senior adviser and the communications director for Representative Joaquin Castro, Democrat of Texas. ... The groom, who is 33 and works in Washington, is the head of communications for the House Judiciary Committee under its chairman, Representative Jerry Nadler, Democrat of New York, for whom he has previously worked as communications director and foreign policy adviser since 2015.” With a pic.NYT

BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Mark Shriver, SVP of U.S. programs and advocacy for Save the Children. A fun fact about Mark: “The Shriver family has been in Maryland since 1721. My dad’s grandfather, Thomas Herbert Shriver, took Jeb Stewart to the battle of Gettysburg at 16 years of age.” Playbook Plus Q&A

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About The Author : Jake Sherman

Jake Sherman is a senior writer for POLITICO and co-author of POLITICO’s Playbook, the nation's leading political newsletter. He is also the co-author of New York Times and national best seller, "The Hill to Die On: The Battle for Congress and the Future of Trump's America," which was published by Crown in 2019. Jake is an NBC and MSNBC political contributor.

Since 2009, Jake has chronicled all of the major legislative battles on Capitol Hill, and has also traveled the country to cover the battle for control of Congress.

Jake is a Connecticut native, and a graduate of The George Washington University — where he edited The GW Hatchet — and Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. Jake lives in Washington with his wife Irene and his son, and listens to an unhealthy amount of Grateful Dead and Phish.

About The Author : Anna Palmer

Anna Palmer is a senior Washington correspondent for POLITICO and co-author of POLITICO’s Playbook, the most indispensable morning newsletter for the biggest influencers in politics. Anna covers the world of Congress and politics, and has successfully chronicled the business of Washington insiders for years. Her stories take readers behind the scenes for the biggest fights in Washington as well as the 2016 election.

She is also the co-author of New York Times and national best seller, "The Hill to Die On: The Battle for Congress and the Future of Trump's America," which was published by Crown in 2019.

In addition to Playbook, Anna is also editorial director of Women Rule, a POLITICO platform that is dedicated to expanding leadership opportunities for women at all stages of their career.

Prior to becoming POLITICO’s senior Washington correspondent, she was the co-author of the daily newsletter, POLITICO Influence, considered a must-read on K Street. Anna previously covered House leadership and lobbying as a staff writer for Roll Call. She got her start in Washington journalism as a lobbying business reporter for the industry newsletter Influence. She has also worked at Legal Times, where she covered the intersection of money and politics for the legal and lobbying industry, first as a staff writer and then as an editor.

A native of North Dakota, Anna is a graduate of St. Olaf College, where she was executive editor of the weekly campus newspaper, the Manitou Messenger. She lives in Washington, D.C.

About The Author : Daniel Lippman

Daniel Lippman is a reporter for POLITICO and a co-author of POLITICO's Playbook, the most indispensable morning newsletter for the biggest influencers in politics.

Before joining POLITICO, he was a fellow covering environmental news for E&E Publishing and a reporter for The Wall Street Journal in New York. He has also interned for McClatchy Newspapers and Reuters. During a stint freelancing in 2013, he traveled to the Turkish-Syrian border to cover the impact of the Syrian civil war for The Huffington Post and CNN.com.

He graduated from The Hotchkiss School in 2008 and from The George Washington University in 2012. Daniel hails from the Berkshires in western Massachusetts and enjoys playing tennis, seeing movies and trying out new restaurants in his free time.